schoonmaker



FATENTED JAN. 19, 1.904.

J. H.8GHOONMAKER. CABLE MAKING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED 0(JT.19I 1903.

4 snms snnm' 1.

N0 MODEL.

P TENTB'D JANJQ, 1904.

J. H. SGI-LOONMAKER. CABLE MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 19, 1903.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

i fichoolunaker No. 749,752. PATENTED JAN. 19, 1904. J. H. SGHOONMAKER.

CABLE MAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 19, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 Jwneblll clwomnaiicr atkwmugb '4 SHBETSSHEET 4.

E 9* J a 4 $21 N m7 ww No. 749,752. PATENTED JAN. 19,1904.

I N ,H. SOHQONMAKER. CABLE MAKING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION TILED 0OT.19, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

m n rmH lmm /Wl1lllll a citizen of the United States, residing at Wichines; and .1 do herebydeclare the following ency to untwist and become separated by the direction which creates the stated tendency .bucklingor kinking of the cable is completely avoided.

.into the cable structure as to bring the seams Patented January 19,1904.

JAMES H. SCHOONMAKER, 0F WINQNA, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO WINONA WIRE CABLE COMPANY, OF W1NONA,-M|1NNESOTA, A

CORPORATION CABL -MAKIN G MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,752, dated January 19, 1904.

Application filed October 19, 1903.

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J AMES H. SCHOONMAK ER,

nona, in the county of Winona and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Cable-Making Mato he a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable'others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i r

This invention, which relates to the manufacture of cables, contemplates the provision of a simply and durably constructed machine'- sions and varieties, including the copper or other covered type. i i An object of the invention is the productionof a cable or the like the strands-of which are possessed of their original tensile strength by reason of the maintenance of their molecuv lar formation throughout the operation of the machine whereby the strength of the cable is greatly increased over present cables of like dimensions, structure, and material.

Another object of the invention is the elimination from the assembled strands of all tendprovision of means for efiecting the feeding of the several strands devoid of twist in the whereby the necessity at present existing of tying the cable ends is dispensed with and Afurther object'of the invention in the man ufacture of strip-covered-strand cables is to so control. the twisting of the covered strands of the strips innermost, whereby the appearance of the cable is greatly improved by reason of the apparent solidityof the several strands.

Other objects of the invention and result- 5 antadvantages possessed bythe machine and its product are set forth in the following detailed description, in connection with which cated in advance of the finishing-die.

Serial No. 177,681-- (Iio model.)

reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention in its preferred form of embodiment, it being understood that various changes and modifications larged cross-section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig.

5 is an enlarged View of the delivery end of the machine. a Fig. 6 is an enlarged sidejelevation, partlyin section. of the delivery end of the machine. Fig. ,7 is an enlarged sectional view of the die-box and finishing-die. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the finishing-die. Fig. '9 is .an elevation of theinitial die 10- Fig.10 is an elevation of a disk employed to properly guide the wires and covering-strips to the dies. Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are viewsof the dies for efiectingthe covering of the center strand. Fig. 14 is a sectional View of a strip spool and tension device therefor. Fig. 15 is a view of. awaslier forming part of the ten- 'sion device. Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view of a covered strand previous to being twisted into the cable. Fig. 17 is a view of the strand after being twisted i'nto thecable. Fig. 18 is a perspective view of a strand-feeder forming an attachment to the strand-twisting device.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 2 designate the end bars of the frame of the machine, and 3 4 are theside bars, the frame being supported by legs 5 A shaft 6, which carries the moving parts, extends longitudinally of the frame, being journaled at its forward end in a box '7 on the bar 1 and at its rear end in 'a die-box 8, presently to be described. The shaft'is of tubular form, and through it passes the center strand or core of the cable, which'is fed in at the forward shaft end. The direction of feed of the center and outlying strands being toward the deliveryend of the machine, end thrust against the diebox 8 is relieved by the provision of 'a collar 9 on the forward end of the shaft, the collar abutting against the journal-box 7. To prevent vibration of the shaft, there is provided. a series of truss-rods 1O 10, disposed equidistant about the shaft and secured at'their ends to collars 11 12, adjustable on said shaft, The rods are intermediately bent over the hub-rim of an equalizer, hereinafter described, and the threaded ends of the rods are passed through "openings in flanges on the collars 11 12'to receive nuts 13 13, which when tightened give the rods the requisite' tension to properly' stiffen the shaft. The shaft andparts carried thereby are rotated from a shaft 14, journaled in a box 15 on the bar 2 through the medium of two-g'ear-wheels 16 17, respectively keyed on said shafts 14 and'6. The shaft 14 is preferably connected by gearing or otherwise with form of a single strand or a multiple-wire strand, dependent upon the type of cable to.

' be made. .Each spool is rotatably mounted in a forked bracket 20, which has a pin 21 loosely passed through an opening in said rim and to the. endof whichis fixed an arm 22. The arms 22 are pivotally connected at their lower ends to a ringweight-23, adjacent to the wheel 18, the-function of which is to maintain the spoolsvertically throughout their rotary traverse, whereby twisting of the strands is preframe at vented. The ring-weight is freely suspended from the wheel by the arms, and to prevent vibration of the weightthere is employed-a roller 24:, Fig. 2, which is supported on the 24 and is preferablypositioned to slightly clear the inner surface of the ring,

1919 deliver the strands at varying distances from the shaft-center. The provision of the with the object of preventing contact and wear when the parts are revolvlng .at a comparatively low rate of speed, in which event practically no vibration occurs. Inasmuch as the parts are in practice revolved in the one direction-mamely, from left to right-but one roller 24: is required to prevent vibration of the ring. From] the spools 19 the strands pass through openings 25 25, near the outer ends of arms 26 26, extending radially from a hub 27, keyed to the shaft 6. equidistant from the center of the shaft, whereas in traversing their rotary path the spools equalizer-arms 26 insures the proper spacing of the strands. however, regardless of the po- The openings 25 25 are Mar- 2' sitions of the points'of 'delivery from the The arms arethreaded at their. inner spools; ends for insertion in threaded sockets in the hub 27,.and 28 28 are nuts, for locking the arms in place. ,The strands pass from the equalizer toand'through a circular series of openings 29 in a disk 30, keyed on the shaft 61 andlocated infront of the gear-wheel l7.

The'function of this disk'is to concentrate and properly space the strands, as 'Well I as the strand 'covering strips presently to be described,-Which strips pass through radiallydisposed slots 31, alternating with the holes 29. Leaving the. disk 30 the strands and" strips pass between'the spokes of the gearwheel'17 and to and through a' guidingrdisk 32, screwed on a threaded portion of the shaft '6, said guiding-disk being relatively smaller than the disk 30 and having strand-holes 1 and radially-disposed strip-slots 34 3 1 alter-- n'ating with said holes, the holes' and slots being inclined-relatively to the axis of the shaft I 6, 'as shown in Figs. 6' and 10.

.The shaft ,6 carries at its delivery end two die-disks 35 36, respectively provided with circular series of tapered die-holes 37 38,

through whicht'he strands, whether covered -or uncovered, are drawn, the holes 38v being of relativelysmaller diameter than the holes 37. The disk-'30 and die-disks 35 36 are screwed upon the shaft at threaded portions of the latter, 'said threaded portions increasing in diameter from the end of the shaft, as will-be understood. 1n the manufacture of.

cables formed of uncovered strands the diedisks .35 36 serve as guides for the strands,

being screwed tightly on the shaft to revolve therewith, and the die-disk 36 performs the further function of twisting the strands upon .the center strand to form the cable. The die-- disk 36 has its bearing in the die-box 8, being confined at one end therein by an annular flange 39, which may be-integralwith the rear end of the die-box. Said flange cooperates with the collar 9 on the forward end of the shaft to resist the end thrust of the latter. Thedie-box thus serves, through the medium of the diedisk 36, as the journal-bearing for the rear end of the shaft, and to permit a slight lateral movement of the latter, for a purpose presently to be explained, thedie-boxis supported on the.

frame to be capable of a like movement, this being accomplished by the rack-and pini0nmeans shown in Flg. 6, 40 being the rack, carried by the die-box, and 41being the pinion, which is rotated by ahand-crank 4:2. Bolts 43 serve to'hold the box and shaft in their normal position, the bolts being loosened previous to the movement of the box. The twisting of the strands to form the cable can be accomplished directly from the die-disk 36, or- I may employ the strand feeding and spacing device shown in Figs. 6 and 18,and which consists of a tube 44, having a threaded inner end 45, insertible in the opening of the shaft 6 and of a tapering enlargement beyond said inner end, the line of taper conforming" approximately to the inclination of the strands previous to being twisted into cableform. Near the outer end of the tube is an annular .fiange 4-6, in whichis a circular series of holes 47, through which the strands are drawn, said holes serving to guide and properly space the strands immediately before the twisting 'operation.;

In the manufacture of covered-strand cables there is fed through the shaft 6 a center strand, preferably covered with a strip of cop-.

per or the like, and to effect the-said covering or inclosing of the center strand I employthe three dies 48 19 .50. (Shown in Figs. 1, 11,

12, and 13.) Thedies are supported on an ex- 1 tension 51 of the frame and rest against shoulders 52 52. In the die 48 is a relatively large converging opening 53, through which is drawn the center strand and strip, the opening being of. the proper size to give a slight bend to the strip, and from said opening the strand and strip pass to and through converging openings 54 and 55, respectively provided in the dies 49 and 50. The die-openings 53,

"54,- and 55 diininish in diameter, as shown,

the diameter of the finishing-opening be ing approximately that of the covered strand.

Preferably each of the intermediate and findially from a hub 58, keyed to the shaft 6 ad jacent to the equalizer. The sp'ools 56, as well as the spools 19, are each provided with'a tension device, preferably of the form shown in Figs. 14 and 15, the tension-nut 59 being 'held from rotation with the spool by an interposed washer-60, which has a bar 61 extending across the opening for the axle-pin 62 and engaging a slot 63 in said pin. As a further safeguard against the loosening of the nut 59 a set-screw 59' is employed. The strips are drawn from the spools 56 through the slots in the disks 3O 32' and pass from thence through the die-disks 35 l and 36. The holes 37 of the disk 35 are of relatively larger diameter than the holes 38of the finishing-disk 36, and in the passage of astrand and strip successively through the holes 37 and 38 the converging walls of said holes act to bend thestrip about the strand to completely cover the latter. The slots and holes of the disk 32 are so disposed relatively to the positions of the holes in the die-disks 35 and 36 as toebring the seam of the inclosing strip to a point away from the position it will occupy in the comstrands.

pleted cable. By reference to Fig. 16 it will be seen that the seam of the strip 64: is positioned one quarter-turn to the right, whereas in the operation of twistingjthe strand 65 onto the center strand 66 the strand 65 is given approximately -one quarter-turn, which brings the seam innermost, as shown in Fig. 17. By this operation the seams of the strip are concealed, and the cable has the appearance of being constructed from solid copper strands.

In operation if a cable composed of uncovcred center and'outlyingstrands is to be constructed a center strand-spool (not shown) is placed in position to feed the strand through the shaft-aperture, and a number of strandcarrying spoolslQ, corresponding to the desired number of outlying strands of the cable, are mounted in theirrespective brackets 20, the spools being-disposed as equidistantly about the wheel 18 as possible, wherean odd number of strands are fed, and in this connection it will be understood that no limit is placed uponthe number of spool-brackets to be employed, the number shown being merely for the purpose of illustration; The provision of the tension devices insures the feeding of the strands at-an equal tension, whereby thecomplete cable is rendered very compact, the strands lying closely one against the other;

.The strands may each'consist of a single wire or a number of wires twisted together, and thesmgle or multiple wire strand may be covered or uncovered. The machineis therefore fadapted not only for manufacturingall varieties and sizes of cables, but may also be employed in the making of the multiple-wire In theconstruction of'cables having strip-covered strands the requisite number of strip-spools are employed, and through the.

medium of the dies the strands, whether of single or multiple wire, are completely incased by the strip theseam of which is brought innermost', as previously stated. The longitu dinal speed of the. cable may vary relative to the rotation of the cable-forming parts,whereby a long or short twist is obtainable, or this Imodification of the length of twist may be effected by varying the speed of said parts. In constructing cables from strands of hard material, ,such as steel, it is advisable to give to the strands previous to their assemblage into cable form a slight twist,'whereby the strands have a twisting tendency, which holds them closely together and prevents separation at the end. Assuming the direction of rotation of the machine to be from left to right viewed from the feeding end to give the strands the requisite twist, the gear-wheels 16 and 17 are disconnected by moving the die-box through the medium of the rack and pinion, and the longitudinal movement of the untwisted strands being checked the strand ends beyond the diebox are firmly held, and the shaft 6 and spools carried thereby are given by hand a few turns from new right, the turns giving to the strands the proper twist beyond the die-box, after which the gear-wheels are brought in-mesh and'the machine set in motion. This twist is maintained throughout the operation of the machine, the extent of the twist being gov erned by the degree of hardness of thematerial. Cables somade may be cut at any point withoutthe necessity of previously wrapping or tying the cable, thereby facilitating the work of the lineman or other operator and effecting economy in the use of the cable. By the provision of the means for preventing a twist in the strands in the rotation of the wheelthe original molecular formation of the strands is preserved, and the strength ofthc cable is unimpaired, and all tendency tobuckling or kinking is avoided. In the stated direction of rotation of the parts the strands receive in their assemblage into cable form a right-hand twist, whereas without the means fotf, -p1'eserving the vertical position of the spools thestrandswould receive a twist oppo: site-to the direction of rotation of the parts. The elimination of this left-hand twist destroys all tendency of the cablestrands to untwist,

and, moreover, as above stated, the molecular formation of .the strands is preserved. Relatively soft strands are practically devoid of twist, and in relatively hardstrandsthe slight twist for the purpose of preventing separation is insufiicient to materially modify the molecular condition and strength ofthe. strands.

1 claim as my invention 1. In a-machine of the class described, the combination of a shaft, means for rotating said shaft, a wheel on the shaft, spool-carrying brackets mounted on said wheel, a freely-suspended ring-weight having arm connection with each of said brackets, and-a roller out of.

contact with the weight during low speed of the machine, but contacting therewith during high speed for preventing vibrationofthe.

a weight.

2. Ina machine of the class described, the combination of.a tubular shaft, adjustable truss-rods for stiffening said shaft, means for rotating the shaft, a wheel on the shaft, spoolcarrying brackets on the wheel, means con-' nected with the brackets for maintaining the spools in vertical position, adjustable tension devices carried by said brackets, and strandfspacing separately-secured arms extending radially from the shaftand having holes for the passage of the strands.

3. In a machine of'the class described, the combination of a tubular shaft, a bearing for one end of the shaft, a disk on the other end offthe shaft, a box in which said disk is rotatably confined said box being laterally movable relatively to the shaft-axis, means for rotating the shaft including two gear-wheels one carried by the shaft and means permitting the moving of the box and shaft end'to disengagethe gear-wheels for the purpose hereinbefore described.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a tubular shaft, a bearing for one end of the shaft, a disk on the other end of the shaft, a box in which said disk is rotatably confined said box being movable to effectlateral movement of the shaft'endQmeans for movin said box means for securin the box in normal position, and means for rotating the shaft including two gear-wheels one on said shaft.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a tubular shaft for the passage of a center strand, aplurality of spools carried by the shaft for supplying outlying strands, tension-equalizing means for said strands, strand-covering-strip spools carried by said shaft, means for concentrating and positioning the strands and strips, and dies on the shaft effecting the covering of the strands by said strips.

6. 1n a machine of the class described, the

combination of a tubular shaft for the passage of a'centerstrand, a plurality of spools carried by the shaft for supplying .outlying strands, tension-equalizing means for saidi strands, strand-covering-strip spools carried by said shaft, a disk on'theshaft having strand-holes and strip-slots said disk serving to concentrate and position the strands and strips, a strand and strip guiding disk on the shaft to the rear of the aforesaid disk, and two die-disks on the shaft effecting the covering of the strands by said strips one of said disks constituting the finishing-die, and a die-box in which said finishing-die is rotatably confined.-

7.- In a machine'of the class described, the combination of a tubular shaft for the passage of a strip-covered center strand, dies at the front of the shaft-for effecting such covering, a plurality of outlying strand-spools carried by the shaft, tension equalizers for said strands, strand-covering-strip spools carried by said shaft, a disk on the shaft having strandho-les and strip-slots said disk serving to concentrate and position the strands and strips, a strand and .strip guiding disk on the shaft to the rear of the aforesaid disk, and two diedisks on the shaft effecting thecover'ing of the strands by said strips one of said disks constituting the finishing-die, and a die-box in which said finishing-die is rotatably confined.

8. Ina machine of the class described, the combination of means for feeding center and outlying strands and covering-strips for the outlying strands including a tubular shaft,

dies carried by the shaft for effectingthe covering of the strands by said strips, and a disk on the shaft in advance of the dies said disk having strand-openings and strip-slots and arranged with reference to the die-openings to bring the strip-covering seams in position to be ered sti ands into a cable with the strip-seams.

subsequently twisted innermost in the formainnermost. IO tion of the cable. 1 In testimony whereof I afiix my signature 9. In a machine of the class described, the in presence of two witnesses. I r combination with the center and outlying JAMES H. SCHOONMAKER. strand-feedin'gmeans and strip-feedingmeans. Witnesses: i of means effecting the coveringof the strands D. E. TAWNEY,

by the strips, and means for twisting the cov- W. J. SMITH.

i, i I i 

